


How does one actually talk to people?

by Space_Hawk



Series: Inktober 2020 [25]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Because I too have no idea how to communicate with people, Did I project a little here?, Gen, I had to include it, It's only like a couple lines, Mentioned Azula (Avatar) - Freeform, Mentioned Iroh (Avatar), Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Toph and Zuko Friendship, This is also way longer than I intended, This is really just Zuko being awkward and kinda learning to deal with it, Though not entirely successfully, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko doesn't know how to interact like a normal human being, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, but I love their friendship so much, but oh well, especially not with the rest of the Gaang, you bet i did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Hawk/pseuds/Space_Hawk
Summary: Zuko would be the first to admit that he didn’t exactly know how to talk to other people his age. Not that it was entirely his fault. Growing up, there hadn’t been many other people his age around the palace.But then he left to go join the Avatar. And none of that could have prepared him for what it was like to be around normal people his own age.Inktober Day 25: Buddy
Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Inktober 2020 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950592
Comments: 4
Kudos: 200





	How does one actually talk to people?

Zuko would be the first to admit that he didn’t exactly know how to talk to other people his age.

Not that it was entirely his fault though. Growing up, there hadn’t been many other people his age around the palace. It wasn’t exactly the best place for a kid to make friends. Sure, there were the occasional servants’ children he would hang out with. Or at least, until his dad found out about it and forbade him from talking to them (apparently it was “unseemly” for royalty to be hanging out with the children of peasants). But he never really had a true friend.

There were Mai and Ty Lee, of course, but they were always more Azula’s friends than his. Not that any of them were a good example of how normal kids interacted with one another. No, Azula had had them wrapped around her manipulative little finger from the beginning. Though he couldn’t exactly blame Mai or Ty Lee for that. That’s what his sister was best at and even if they were aware of it, he’d be scared to go against her too. 

So he’d never really learned that skill by growing up at the palace.

Then there was the Agni Kai. And with it, fire and pain and suffering. 

And then he was on a tiny ship, travelling the world in search of a myth and solely surrounded by people more than twice his age. People whom he was also in charge of, despite them having more experience than he could ever hope to have. 

So Zuko had to grow up. There was no longer any need for him to be able successfully interact with kids his own age. Not when he had a ship to command.

He’d always been better at interacting with adults anyways. Not necessarily good at it, but better. That was one thing growing up in the palace with all its formalism had made sure of. 

And it was that skill that Zuko fell back on during his time on the _Wani._ He projected as much maturity and authority as possible whenever interacting with his crew. And it worked.

Or at least, he thinks it did.

There was never any mass mutiny against him (which would’ve been the last thing he needed) and it seemed like most of the crew held a begrudging respect for him, even with all of his angry yelling. At the very least, they followed his orders with minimal complaining.

But he still wasn’t ‘friends’ with any of them. 

They all had their social groups, chatting in the halls and gossiping behind closed doors and singing together on music nights, while Zuko had...himself. And his uncle. And that was all he really needed. He didn’t have time for friends, not when he had to capture the Avatar.

Then there was the tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Working there and dealing with all of the horrible, entitled customers was one of the worst experiences in his life (which is really saying something considering how messed up his life is), but it made Uncle happy, so he couldn’t complain.

Though, admittedly, it did help with his social skills. After dealing with dozens of customers, day after day, he could awkwardly stumble through some small talk while his uncle prepared their tea. It wasn’t much, but it was still an improvement.

And then he was back at the palace, three years later and an entirely different person. He may have finally had his dad’s approval (the one thing he had wanted for as long as he could remember), but it didn’t feel like he thought it would. He was constantly on edge, unaccustomed to the formalities of palace life and always worried he would do or say the wrong thing.

Being with Mai was the only time he really felt like himself. It wasn’t quite the same, with them being more than just friends, but it was close enough. She was the only person who he didn’t feel awkward around. The only one he was never afraid to mess up in front of when the fear of getting sent away again was ever present in the back of his mind.

But then he left anyways to go join the Avatar.

And none of that could have prepared him for what it was like to actually be around normal people his own age. 

Sure, none of them were technically ‘normal’ with them all being master benders and fighters (and not to mention the actual Avatar). But they acted like normal kids. Not like him or Azula ever did. 

And Zuko did not know how to deal with it. 

It had been hard enough to convince them to let him join their group. And that was after practicing his speech for a badgerfrog (a fact he will deny if anyone ever asked him about it).

But now he had to live and work with them. 

Even if he hadn’t chased them around the world trying to capture them for the better part of a year, he would have no idea how to interact with them. Their conversations, the teasing, the jokes. It just flowed from them so naturally, all perfectly at ease with one another.

And then there was Zuko, who had the social skills of an elbow leech and was desperate to make up for all the pain he had caused them.

It was the blind earthbender who first realized how awkward and anxious he always felt around them. Apparently it was because his heart rate shot up whenever they talked to him (how she could feel that, he didn’t know).

But it was nice, having someone in the group who he felt a little less awkward around. Someone around whom he could tread a little less carefully.

Of course, Aang had warmed up to him right away, but it was different. Toph was a bit more steadfast and direct. She also knew to tone things down a bit for Zuko, which he appreciated. Aang, on the other hand, was constantly bouncing off the walls. He was so excitable and trusting, especially for someone who had lost their entire culture. Zuko was honestly a little jealous, even if the boy’s energy could sometimes be a bit much for him

However, one thing that Zuko did notice (and quite frankly, found a little strange) was how Aang talked to his pets. Specifically, his bison. He treated it almost like it was a person, another member of their group, and he was always talking to it, calling it ‘buddy’ or telling it jokes. What’s weirder was that the creature seemed to actually understand him because it would respond with low groans.

But no one else in their group found it weird, or at least, they never said anything about it, so maybe it was normal?

The watertribe girl took the longest to warm up to him, which was understandable. He had hurt her the most, but she shared the Avatar’s trusting and kind hearted nature, so it wasn’t long before Katara had accepted him too.

Then there was Sokka. 

And Zuko was even more lost on how to interact with him. He was the closest in age to himself, but Sokka’s personality was just something Zuko had never seen before. It certainly wouldn’t have been tolerated in the palace. He was constantly cracking jokes and making sarcastic comments that always seemed to lighten the mood, despite how bad most of them were.

Zuko liked him, and could even see them becoming friends when this was all over, but that didn’t mean he had any idea how to talk to him.

Their trip to the Boiling Rock was filled with awkward silences, followed by awkward small talk, followed by more awkward silence. Then they got to the topics of girlfriends, and Sokka said something that Zuko had absolutely no idea how to respond to.

“My first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

What?

A million questions filled Zuko’s head at once. 

He doesn’t mean the actual moon, right? It’s probably just some sort of metaphor or a figure of speech. He does look serious though (and maybe a little sad?), but how does someone turn into the moon? And how would that even happen?

Not knowing how to respond, but not wanting to sound rude, Zuko simply responded with the first thing that came to mind.

“That’s rough buddy.”

He cringed at how awkward the words sounded coming out of his mouth, but Sokka didn’t say anything, seemingly taking them as an appropriate response, and they trailed off into a slightly less-awkward silence.

Maybe he was getting better at this whole ‘people’ thing after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is somewhat-inspired by a tumblr post I saw a while back (and for the life of me cannot find again) that was basically a headcanon about how Zuko, being as horrible awkward as he is, picks up on Aang calling Appa "buddy" all the time and mimics it when talking with Sokka. Anyways, I love my awkward turtle duck son and definitely projected a bit of my own awkwardness onto him, but I hope you enjoyed and as always, kudos and comments are appreciated :)


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